Young

Volunteers toolkit
A beginners guide to introducing young
volunteers into your volunteering programme
INTRODUCTION
This toolkit is designed as a first step to help an organisation ensure that their volunteering
programme is accessible to young people.

What is volunteering?

The relationship between a volunteer and the organisation they choose to volunteer
with is a gift relationship, i.e. the volunteer is gifting their time to the organisation. It is not
a legally binding relationship and volunteers cannot be compelled to commit their time
to the organisation or carry out tasks.

There are many reasons why individuals choose to become volunteers and all these reasons
are valid.

Using volunteers is not an alternative to paying employees. Volunteering England and the TUC.
have created charter for Strengthening Relations Between Paid Staff and Volunteers. The Charter
sets out a series of principles for employers to follow to encourage a good working relationship
between volunteers, employers and paid staff, and can be found at the Volunteering England
website www.volunteering.org.uk

Starting to develop your programme

If you do not already have a volunteering programme there is a Volunteering Toolkit designed to
help your organisation.

For your free copy of the Volunteering Toolkit contact the Volunteer Centre Leeds:
Phone 0113 395 0405
Email volunteering@val.org.uk
or to download a pdf version visit www.val.org.uk/page/toolkit

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 1. Why use Young Volunteers

Why use Young Vounteers?

Young people can bring a fresh perspective and new ideas.

Young volunteers can bring creativity, energy and enthusiasm.

Young people can raise awareness and champion your work

amongst their peers, teachers, parents and the wider community.

Young volunteers can advise you how to involve and recruit

other young people. They can undertake peer recruitment by
word of mouth or using social media such as Facebook or Twitter.

Young people can advise you on how to keep your organisation

up to date with new media and improve your profile with
younger audiences.

Young volunteers are often very committed; this opportunity

could help them to decide on a vocation or pathway.

If young people are consulted on services for young people

then services can be designed, delivered and evaluated based on
actual rather than presumed needs.

Local media love stories about young people being involved

in positive activities and this can bring positive coverage of the
work carried out by your organisation.

Your organisation will be pro-actively contributing to all the

benefits that volunteering brings to young people.

It enhances young peoples employability.

when recruiting graduates for Marks and Spencers we look

for the skills to help make them and our company successful.
Volunteering can be a great way to develop these skills

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Helen Feltham, Director UK Retail HR

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 2. Safeguarding Young Volunteers

Safeguarding Young Volunteers

Safeguarding children and young people is of paramount
importance to everyone, not least because all organisations have
a duty of care towards all those who are involved with or who
attend their activities.

Organisations working with young people should have a robust

Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy in place as well as
clear procedures, including a thorough screening procedure
on potential volunteers, undertaking Criminal Record Bureaux
(CRB) disclosures applications if necessary, before an opportunity
begins.

If you need any advice relating to safeguarding young volunteers

you can contact the Safeguarding Officer for the Third Sector
Sector at Leeds Safeguarding Children Board on 0113 39
50247 or email children.leeds@leeds.gov.uk

Their role is to help and assist Third Sector organisations (i.e.

voluntary, faith or community groups) working with children and/
or families within Leeds to develop effective child protection/
safeguarding policies and procedures. They have a number of
model policies and templates to help with this and are happy
to arrange to meet groups or individuals, or simply to advise by
phone.

There are also useful downloadable information sheets from the

Leeds Initiative website under Safeguarding in Leeds:
www.leedsinitiative.org/children

To support young volunteers effectively you will need to consider

having the following in place:
A named supervisor
Clear volunteer roles and responsibilities
An induction including Health and Safety information
A review and ongoing opportunities for feedback

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A volunteer policy

There are lots of existing resources that could support you in

developing this work. For further information relating to best practice
in supporting young volunteers contact Learning Partnerships Youth
Team on 0113 380 6417 or contact the Volunteer Centre Leeds for
your free copy of the Volunteering Toolkit call 0113 395 0405, email
volunteering@val.org.uk or to download a pdf version.
visit www.val.org.uk/page/toolkit
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 3. The minimum age for volunteers

The minimum age for volunteers

There is no general legal restriction on volunteering by children
in not-for-profit organisations. However some local authorities
have by-laws restricting the number of hours children can work.
Some people might argue that organisations ought to fall into line
with the Children and Young Persons Act, which applies to profit-
making organisations only. It limits children aged 14 and over to
a maximum of two hours work on Sunday or a school day. These
hours must be between 7am and 7pm and must not be in school
hours.

It is sensible to bear this basic guidance in mind whilst looking on

the volunteering opportunity in light of the other demands in the
childs life. Discuss this issue with the volunteer and between you
work out a reasonable level of commitment.

Source: Volunteering England, 50 Frequently Asked Questions

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 4. Insurance needed to work with young

Insurance needed to work with

young volunteers
volunteers

If you involve volunteers, including young volunteers, in your

organisation, you should ensure you have an insurance policy that
covers them.
Ensure that your policy mentions volunteers explicitly they may
not be covered automatically.
Check that your policy covers volunteers as young as 14, some
have a minimum age of 16 or 18.
Insurance companies should be aware of the types of work
volunteers are doing, because if the tasks are high-risk then the
insurance policies may need to be changes to include these
risks.
Types of insurance - your employers liability or public liability
insurance should cover volunteers. You may also want to
provide professional liability or personal accident insurance,
depending on the type of work volunteers are doing.
Check your policy periodically - Volunteering England
recommends that every organisation should check its
insurance cover at least once a year.

Source: Involving Young Volunteers: A Toolkit, Young Timebank

For further information and advice on insurance please contact

Voluntary Action-Leeds on 0113 297 7920 or visit:
www.val.org.uk/page/resources to download a free factsheet
about insurance.

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 5. Health and Safety measures need to

Health and Safety measures need to be put

into place to work with young volunteers
be put into place to work with young
volunteers
Organisations have a legal duty of care towards everyone that
comes into contact with their organisations, including young
volunteers.

Your duty of care is your general legal duty to do everything

reasonable in your power to protect people from harm.
Organisations involving young volunteers will have an advanced
duty of care towards them. However, maturity can be relative
and what is a reasonable level of support for one 17 year old
may not be for another. You should assess the level of support,
supervision and training needed when interviewing and
inducting volunteers.

The duty applies regardless of size of the organisation, its income

or whether the organisation has paid staff. The key in any case of
liability is to be able to show that reasonable care was taken.

Volunteering England strongly recommends that your

organisation begins to implement the same health and safety
requirements for volunteer as for paid employees.
See www.volunteering.org.uk for further information.

Source: Involving Young Volunteers: A Toolkit, Young Timebank

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 6. Young Volunteers on Benefits

Young Volunteers on Benefits

Volunteering does not affect the benefit payments an individual
receives. Volunteers are not paid for their time but are entitled to be
reimbursed for their travel and other legitimate expenses incurred.

People claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) can volunteer as

long as they remain available for work and are actively seeking paid
employment.
People claiming Income Support and/or Disability Living
Allowance can volunteer.
People claiming Incapacity Benefit can volunteer for as long as
they want. The rule that people receiving Incapacity Benefit could
only volunteer for 16 hours a week no longer exists. Volunteering
does not affect your permitted work.
It is advisable for people to tell their benefits advisor that they
have begun volunteering and they may be asked to fill out a form
recording this. This will not affect their ability to volunteer.

Source: Voluntary Action LeicesterShire: Volunteering FAQ

For further information on state benefits and volunteering visit:

www.volunteering.org.uk/resources/goodpracticebank/
information/volunteeringandstatebenefits

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 7. Expenses

Expenses
You are under no legal obligation to pay any expenses to
volunteers. However, we would strongly encourage that you
reimburse, where you are able, reasonable expenses for costs
incurred. This will encourage a wider diversity of people to
volunteer at your organisation (not just people who can afford it).
Often this will simply be paying someones bus fare to their place
of volunteering or reimbursing their lunch costs.

This could make the difference to someone, allowing them to

volunteer, who wouldnt ordinarily be able to, and you could get
that excellent voluntary contribution that youve been hoping
for.

It is important for you as an organisation to only ever pay

expenses that the volunteer has paid themselves; flat rates for
expenses or any money over could have legal implications for
yourself and the volunteer.

If you need advice on creating an expenses policy please refer

to the Volunteering Toolkit. For your free copy contact Volunteer
Centre Leeds: call 0113 395 0405, email volunteering@val.org.uk
or to download a pdf version visit www.val.org.uk

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CHECKLIST
Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

Health and Safety policy

Named volunteer manager/supervisor at your organisation

Volunteer roles

Induction

Volunteer Policy

Insurance specifically covering young people

FLEXIVOL
FLEXIVOL is a useful acronym of what young people have said would
encourage them to volunteer:
FLEXIBILITY in both time and commitment
LEGITIMACY they need to know its worthwhile
EASE OF ACCESS many young people simply dont know how to start
volunteering or who to contact
EXPERIENCE young people want relevant, useful experience and the
chance to learn new skills
INCENTIVES whats in it for them?
VARIETY both the type of work and the level of commitment
ORGANISATION volunteering needs to be both efficient and informal
LAUGHS volunteering must be fun!

This toolkit is a starting point for organisations looking to introduce young

volunteers into their volunteering programme. For more in-depth advice and
support contact Volunteer Centre Leeds or the Learning Partnerships Youth Team

The internet is a valuable resource for researching and downloading information.

Your local library can offer you free internet access if this is not available at
your home or place of work.
Volunteer Centre Leeds,
12 St Pauls Street, Leeds, LS1 2LE
Phone: 0113 395 0405
Email: volunteering@val.org.uk
www.val.org.uk

Learning Partnerships Youth Team

The Burton Business Park, Hudson
Road, Leeds, LS9 7DN
Phone: 0113 380 6417
Email: info@learningpartnerships.org.uk
www.learningpartnerships.org.uk